DNR crackdown on Bass Tourneys this summer.

I agree 100% with Lou W. Cannot stand tournament fishing at all big time or local. 2 years ago close to dusk went to get my truck and trailer the local High school kids were all sitting on my trailer busted the bunk board needed to replace it and a new boat to start with. I connected with the coach who’s comment was kids will be kids. A call to the local DNR officer was in order. Lets just say a phone call to the school was in order. I think it’s great high school kids can learn this skill but not all will ever be KVD they should learn to enjoy it for what it is a lifelong skill. Also catch weigh take a pic and release most kids now days can only run a phone watched fish after fish being bounced on the ground thrown in the lake like a football. Really that’s what they learn. Local clubs have fenced me in at landings when they come in they are more important than you. Aggravating to say the least I used to donate to local schools but after what I’ve seen from several different schools no way. Maybe only seeing the bad side sure there are others that are run much differently but I’ll have to see it. Also I thought once a fish is placed in a live well you need to keep it and cannot release it back into the lake are tournaments special treatment? The above also resulted in several tickets and the CO said he was appalled by the behavior.

Yes you can release bass from a livewell after a tournament or after it’s been in your livewell. It’s called culling. What you cannot do is have more than the five fish limit in your livewell. When you cull a fish it has to be immediately released to keep the 5 fish livewell limit.

99% of tournament anglers wouldn’t fish tournaments if they had to keep the bass they weighed in.

Thanks for the clarification Mahto makes sense now.

Would motivating clubs to do at least some of their tournaments on the weeknights help? Yes, a lot of lakes are still busy on those days, but nothing like Saturday morning. You may push out the older retired guys in their small boats who just want some peace and quiet and easy, no-pressured experience at the launch. Maybe incentivize Sunday mornings instead of Saturdays?

Earlier start and end times so everyone is off the lake by 10 AM instead of 11? Run tournaments out of launches next to public parks and allow the rigs to park in the park to keep stalls free?

It’s just tough on a lake like Minnetonka when the parking is at a premium anyway to show up on at noon on a Saturday and the tournament guys are just starting to get off the lake. That has happened more than once to me at the Maxwell Bay launch. The good news is that when they do come off, a big chunk of stalls become open. But you have to time it right.

mahtofire14 wrote:

I haven’t done Greenhorn in two years, but that’s the 24 boat one I’m talking about. The 12 boat league is a solo tournament series called the ABC League.

24 boats is a lot on most lakes around here except for the largest ones. Then throw in recreational anglers too. Parking is gone and the lake is full.

I’m not against tournaments, but even if they’re under the 25 boat thresh hold for a permit, letting others know the date and time in advance would be very beneficial to guys like me and fishthumper. We would simply avoid those lakes on the tourney day, and maybe the day after too. That’s all I’m saying. I can totally see why he is frustrated that some of the lakes he fishes have unannounced events when he gets there.

The dnr has a list of tournaments with permits on their website. It’s always a bummer when you get to your destination and the lot is full but I don’t see the difference between whether the lot is full of people tournament fishing vs anything else. Well other than multiple single cars taking up a full trailer spots each. That one is frustrating.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Karry Kyllo wrote:</div>
If tournaments meet the permit requirements, I’ve always been fine with it, bass or any other species.

I’m generally ok with it too. What I think fishthumper is getting at is that there’s now a route to check that before arriving at a specific body of water. I do not generally fish a lot of lakes that have tournaments, so I rarely encounter this anymore, but I could see it being a buzz kill when you arrive at the access.

I think another part of the issue with having a tournament is the availability of parking. If an access only has a limited number of spots, the tournament should not be able to occupy all or most of them. For example, if the access only has 25 spots, you shouldn’t be allowed to hold a 25 boat tournament. IMO the parking capacity should not exceed 50% of the spots available at any given site. Some bigger lakes obviously have multiple accesses with a lot more parking, so that’s generally why tournaments are held there more often.

I thought that the DNR had been publishing dates of permited tournaments for years. I don’t pay alot of attention to tournaments but I have looked at dates and locations of permitted tournaments in past years.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mahtofire14 wrote:</div>
I haven’t done Greenhorn in two years, but that’s the 24 boat one I’m talking about. The 12 boat league is a solo tournament series called the ABC League.

24 boats is a lot on most lakes around here except for the largest ones. Then throw in recreational anglers too. Parking is gone and the lake is full.

I’m not against tournaments, but even if they’re under the 25 boat thresh hold for a permit, letting others know the date and time in advance would be very beneficial to guys like me and fishthumper. We would simply avoid those lakes on the tourney day, and maybe the day after too. That’s all I’m saying. I can totally see why he is frustrated that some of the lakes he fishes have unannounced events when he gets there.

They are not unannounced. Not trying to harp on you here, but when have you ever looked? They aren’t going to go to the launch and staple a piece of paper to the sign. They are posted on every schedule for each league on their websites as well as Omnia or Arsenal (can’t remember which one) fishing and the DNR for every one that has a permit.

I understand that it can be an annoyance when you show up to a lake and the ramp is full because of a tournament. I’ve had it happen to me as well. But there are ways to find out where tournaments are and I doubt 99% of you have tried to look before being annoyed that there’s a tournament going on when you showed up.

One thing that I think would solve a lot of issues is if there was ONE place anglers could go to check.

Karry Kyllo wrote:

I thought that the DNR had been publishing dates of permited tournaments for years. I don’t pay alot of attention to tournaments but I have looked at dates and locations of permitted tournaments in past years.

They have but on If they meet the thresh hold for boats or entry fees. The specific example mahto gave was purposely under the minimum boat thresh hold so they weren’t required to have one. My point is that even a 20 boat event is a lot for most lakes around here. What if the lake only has 20 parking spots? Then it’s completely full by 6am. The least they could do is post when and where they are so that lake can be avoided at the time.

mahtofire14 wrote:

But there are ways to find out where tournaments are and I doubt 99% of you have tried to look before being annoyed that there’s a tournament going on when you showed up.

Where are they posted? If there’s way to see that in advance, I’m all ears.

I listed them in the post you just read. I’m not saying it’s simple, but you can find them if you really want to avoid them.

mahtofire14 wrote:

One thing that I think would solve a lot of issues is if there was ONE place anglers could go to check.

Yes that’s exactly what I’m referring to.

Also, most lakes in this state that have 20 spots and are anywhere near civilization are going to be full by 7 or 8 am on a saturday and sunday. Who knows, bass tournament permits might pay for more parking down the road.

Smaller tournaments that don’t require a DNR permit most likely will still require a local city or county permit. Many of these permits if inforced will shut down the smaller contests just with the simple requirement of having insurance for the contest with the government body listed on it.

Would motivating clubs to do at least some of their tournaments on the weeknights help?

Ours are Monday nights at 530 pm. Again I don’t agree with half the stuff our league does. I’m only in it to captain my nephew because he asked me. We have 17 teams. And this Monday is the little green launch in Chisago. I don’t even think there’s room for all of us lol. And this is the first tourney that’ll be live weigh ins. So load out will take triple the time

They have but on If they meet the thresh hold for boats or entry fees. The specific example mahto gave was purposely under the minimum boat thresh hold so they weren’t required to have one. My point is that even a 20 boat event is a lot for most lakes around here. What if the lake only has 20 parking spots? Then it’s completely full by 6am. The least they could do is post when and where they are so that lake can be avoided at the time.
[/quote]
For the record regarding the specific example Mahto gave (Greenhorn) although they limit the number of boats to 24 they always pull a permit. (I fished the Wednesday night series for years) Go look at the DNR link of permitted tourneys in the first post of this thread, it shows all the Greenhorn tourneys with permits.

Cities and local government don’t require permits for smaller tourneys.

And yes, there are many weeknight derbies as well.

Bass-n-Eyes wrote:

For the record regarding the specific example Mahto gave (Greenhorn) although they limit the number of boats to 24 they always pull a permit. (I fished the Wednesday night series for years) Go look at the DNR link of permitted tourneys in the first post of this thread, it shows all the Greenhorn tourneys with permits.

Ok thank you, will do. Good to know.

Are education, ethics, and service at least a component of these high school fishing league experiences? If not that’s a shame and a lost opportunity. Competition is good and fun but probably the least important part of fishing.

We have similar issues with parking and crowding with high school mountain bike teams. We all try to coordinate our practices to spread the pressure around different trail systems but it’s often times a total crap-show where we arrive to realize you’ve got 3 teams (our Saint Paul team is like 80 kids plus coaches) all trying to hold a practice on the same trail that’s already choked with other riders. Educating the kids on how to be ultra respectful, share the trail, and respond kindly to people who are annoyed by their presence, is probably the number 1 thing coaches do. And then we get the kids out to grab a shovel on work nights so they get the experience of seeing that trails don’t build themselves.

The high school leagues stress ethics and education. The problem is there aren’t enough knowledgeable boat captains for these kids and I’ve heard from friends that have kids in them, that there are a lot of parents out there as boat captains with their kids that don’t have a clue about fishing. Which is commendable that they are supporting their kids but I’ve heard at times it has created problems. They need good boat captains but it is a HUGE commitment.

Also keep in mind this is a fairly new thing in MN and it’s gotten very popular very quickly. They are still trying to figure out what works best and how to run things smoothly.

mahtofire14 wrote:

The high school leagues stress ethics and education. The problem is there aren’t enough knowledgeable boat captains for these kids and I’ve heard from friends that have kids in them, that there are a lot of parents out there as boat captains with their kids that don’t have a clue about fishing. Which is commendable that they are supporting their kids but I’ve heard at times it has created problems. They need good boat captains but it is a HUGE commitment.

Also keep in mind this is a fairly new thing in MN and it’s gotten very popular very quickly. They are still trying to figure out what works best and how to run things smoothly.

Sounds like they all just need to learn the neko rig. But in all seriousness i could believe that. Its growing very fast and not a lot of parents probably have the knowledge or skills.

I see way less problems with the high school bass leagues over the wanna be kvd super star Saturday crews. From what I see those guys think they own the lakes and launches.

Bearcat89 wrote:

wanna be kvd super star Saturday crews

LOL good one

Enforce parking fees? More money to the DNR/City/County and will deter the small unannounced tournaments (maybe lol).

Funny this was posted yesterday. Drove by an area lake this morning and saw the parking lot was full. Based on the quality of trailers, it had to be a small tourney or club. Luckily there is a 2nd small lot nearby.
DT

I believe tournament permits should be pulled to reflect a % of whatever public trailer capacity a lake has. Example if a lake has 75 possible trailer parking spots (across numerous access points) Then a tourney permit should only allow to fill 50% (or whatever % makes most sense) of those spots. The flat number doesn’t work, obviously directors are circumventing the process by limiting boats to just under the minimums. The problem with that is Joe Blow plans his day off or evening and cant tell if a tourney is going on. So he blows his night or weekend morning driving to a landing that has a tourney.

There are many landings that are full with tourney anglers by sun up because they cant handle more than 10-12 boats. Also weeknights landings are also full by 3-4pm due to tourneys. I can understand why the common guy looking to get out with his kids or whoever, to enjoy the water would get frustrated by full landings.

The DNR needs to manage for that angler too.

So the consensus here is most people think local bass leagues suck lol. I fully agree and am part of one. Only because a nephew asked me to be a captain. But these Saturday clubs that own the launch and do live weigh ins at the launch are dumb as all hell.

mahtofire14 wrote:

Cities and local government don’t require permits for smaller tourneys.

And yes, there are many weeknight derbies as well.

This is incorrect, all organized fishing events require county permission, regardless of size or dollar amount. Every county does it different however, some just require a heads up, some require paperwork and proof of insurance, some will deny you, but technically all require county permits even if they don’t meet the DNR limits.

Bearcat89 wrote:

So the consensus here is most people think local bass leagues suck lol. I fully agree and am part of one. Only because a nephew asked me to be a captain. But these Saturday clubs that own the launch and do live weigh ins at the launch are dumb as all hell.

It would be fun to get a big group of guys to beat them there to the launch and fill it up before they got there.

Bearcat89 wrote:

So the consensus here is most people think local bass leagues suck lol. I fully agree and am part of one. Only because a nephew asked me to be a captain. But these Saturday clubs that own the launch and do live weigh ins at the launch are dumb as all hell.

I wouldn’t say that at all. I just think that there should be a universal route to posting them in advance so the average recreational angler can see where and when they are being held before showing up to the access and seeing it full. Whether it has 10 boats, 24 boats, or 100.

I am with you about sticking spawning fish in a livewell too. I do not support that at all. It should be immediate catch and release at this time to reduce the affect on spawning as much as possible.